TN: Domaine Faiveley Tasting w/Faiveley Export Director Vincent Avenel

WINE TALK
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DOMAINE FAIVELEY TASTING W/FAIVELEY EXPORT DIRECTOR VINCENT AVENEL - Beltramo’s in Menlo Park, California (9/9/2009)


This was a good opportunity to learn about the changes at Domaine Faiveley since control of operations passed to the seventh generation of the family to run the Domaine–Erwan Faiveley–in 2004. Erwan hired as CEO Bernard Hervet, formerly of Bouchard, and together they have made a number of changes in vinification and barrel selection that appear to have resulted in wines that are more approachable in their youth, as well as new vineyard acquisitions. Faiveley owns a total of 296 acres, including 74 in the Cote de Nuits, 24 in the Cote de Beaune and 185 in the Cote Chalonnaise, which include eight grand crus and 16 premier crus. Eight of Faiveley’s vineyards are monopoles, including the Corton Clos des Cortons Faiveley Grand Cru and the Mercurey 1er Cru Clos des Myglands, both of which we sampled at this tasting. They also farm other vineyards as renters, and buy additional fruit as negociants, bottling the results under the name Joseph Faiveley. Eighty percent of the wines, however, come from fruit grown on the family’s vineyards. Export Director Vincent Avenel, also formerly with Bouchard, is an articulate and passionate spokesperson for the domaine.

2006 was the first vintage for the new regime, so that was the focus of this tasting, but Vincent predicts that we won’t fully see the results of some of the new techniques – use of new truncated-cone-shape wood tanks (for less oxidation, greater pigeage); change to using barrels only from Taransaud and Francois Freres; use of a new vertical press; using gravity instead of pumping to introduce the grapes to vats – until the 2007 vintage, of which we tasted one example. In 2008, vineyard holdings were further expanded with the acquisition of Domaine Monnot, including their Batard-Montrachet and Bienvenues-Batard-Montrachet holdings. As the family’s holdings are spread out throughout Burgundy, comprising 80 different appellations, wimenaking operations are based in two locations: a winery in Nuits St. George, and another in Mercurey, for the Cote Chalonnaise holdings.
Whites

  • 2006 Faiveley Montagny - France, Burgundy, Côte Chalonnaise, Montagny
    Very light yellow color; ripe lemon, floral and lime nose; lightly oily textured, light lemon, citrus palate; short-medium finish (87 pts.)
  • 2006 Faiveley Chablis - France, Burgundy, Chablis
    Light yellow color; mineral, lime, grapefruit nose; tasty, tart lime, mineral chalk palate, a little steely; medium finish 88+ pts. (88 pts.)

Clos des Myglands

  • 2007 Faiveley Mercurey 1er Cru Clos des Myglands - France, Burgundy, Côte Chalonnaise, Mercurey 1er Cru
    Dark cherry red color with pale meniscus; ripe raspberry, cherry, vanilla and mineral nose with lift; silky, tart cherry palate with focus, good acidity; medium finish 90+ pts. (aged 10 mos.) (90 pts.)
  • 2006 Faiveley Mercurey 1er Cru Clos des Myglands - France, Burgundy, Côte Chalonnaise, Mercurey 1er Cru
    Medium cherry red color with pale meniscus; big baked cherry, cherry cola, vanilla nose; nice, ripe cherry, cherry pie, spice palate with depth and good acidity; medium finish (aged 13 mos.) (91 pts.)

More '06s

  • 2006 Faiveley Chambolle-Musigny - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny
    Medium cherry red color with pale meniscus; cinnamon, tart cherry, baked strawberry nose; subtle, soft, tart cherry, strawberry, mineral palate; medium finish 91+ pts. (no new oak, 60% 1 year old barrels) (91 pts.)
  • 2006 Faiveley Gevrey-Chambertin - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin
    Medium dark cherry red color with pale meniscus; tight, focused, ripe cherry, spice nose; tasty, structured, tart cherry, rhubarb, mineral palate; medium finish 90+ pts. (blend of estate and non-estate fruit) (90 pts.)
  • 2006 Faiveley Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru La Combes Aux Moines - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru
    Dark cherry red color with pale meniscus; tight, oak, torrefaction, strawberry jam, toast nose; tight, tart strawberry, mineral, tart red fruit, oak palate; medium-plus finish (91 pts.)

Grand Crus

  • 2006 Faiveley Corton-Clos des Cortons Faiveley - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru
    Very dark cherry red color; lovely roses, tart cherry nose with depth; deep, tart cherry, roses, mineral palate with good acidity; medium-plus finish (93 pts.)
  • 2006 Faiveley Mazis-Chambertin - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru
    Medium dark cherry red color with pale meniscus; big, intriguing, cherry, orange, spice, vanilla, sous bois nose; round, cherry, tart cherry, strawberry, mineral, tart strawberry palate with good acidity; medium-plus finish 92+ pts. (92 pts.)
  • 2006 Faiveley Clos Vougeot - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos Vougeot Grand Cru
    Medium dark cherry red color with pale meniscus; roses, vanilla, tart cherry, sandalwood nose; tight, pinched, tart red fruit, mineral palate with lime acidity and depth; medium-plus finish 91+ pts. (91 pts.)

Vincent Avenel on the right

Posted from CellarTracker

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Richard,

Thanks for the notes. We did a big faiveley dinner recently and the difference between the older wines and the 07 was night and day…

Flight 1

· 2000 Corton Charlemagne: Hint of gold in the colour. Bizarre nose at first – all ginger and cloves, like an old fashioned, bitter cough sweet. Completely flat at first with zero acidity. Amazing how much this changed with a few minutes’ air. Transformed into a more classic CC – steely, minerally, lemon and little beurre blanc – really lovely.

· 2001 Corton Charlemagne: Bit of matchstick on the nose. Ginger and cloves again but less pronounced. Spicier, darker fruit, more puligny-like on the mid-palate and finish than the 2000. Drinking beautifully.

· 2002 Corton Charlemagne: Light yellow colour. Unbelievable palate richness and glycerine. With air this wonderful spearmint nose came to the fore. Just beginning to drink well but has an incredible future ahead.

For me, this flight of CCs was actually the flight of the night and overall the 02 was WOTN. Not sure what Faiveley’s reputation is re premox but these are some wines that I will have to back fill on.



Flight 2

· 85 Echezeaux: horribly corked.

· 88 Echezeaux: Mature, deep red colour. Menthol nose. Smooth, red fruited attack. A little sombre, fore square and lacking complexity. Slightly drying finish.



Flight 3

· 93 NSG Chaignots: Much deeper colour – almost purple. Savoury palate and then slightly drying tannins kick in again although they fade with some air. Nice black fruit and cassis. Easily kept up with most of the grand crus.

· 93 Latricieres: Deeper and meatier nose became very brambly with air. Meaty, savoury palate with sweet finish.

· 93 Mazis: Deep, more noble colour. Sweet, dark fruited, blackberry attack. Acidity! Stil very young. Bright, vibrant red fruit and acidity. Class of the flight.

These were all very young but quite promising IMHO.



Flight 4

· 88 Clos de Cortons: Full red colour. Sweetest red/black fruit so far.

· 91 Clos de Cortons: Slightly darker colour. Some menthol on the nose and generally a bit unruly, almost disjointed right now.

· 93 Clos de Cortons: Meaty, grippy. Real depth of black fruit.

93 was the class of this flight for me but I thought the 88 drank quite nicely.



Flight 5

· 88 Clos de Beze: a little underpowered at first. Really opened with air. Very intense, sweet fruit with great length. Slightly herbal, menthol nose. Kept getting better with air.

· 91 Clos de Beze: Slightly medicinal, menthol nose. Dry tannins. Improved substantially with air. Black, slightly roasted fruit.

The 91 was red WOTN for me.



Flight 6

· 90 Latricieres: Slightly murky, red colour. Dark fruited nose – ripest fruit of the evening. Quite spicy.

· 91 Latricieres: Earthy nose. Rich, meaty palate. Very deep. Began to close up again with air. Years to go here…

· 03 Latricieres: I only got a tiny pour so wasn’t able to assess it.

· 07 Latricieres: Purple colour. Massive nose of violets and a little menthol. Pure, ripe red/blue fruit. Very easy drinking – so sweet and no discernible tannins. Is this even the same grape let alone the same producer??!! No frame of reference whatsoever to judge what this will become.

I’ve had the 91 several times and, despite being excellent, this was actually a little underpowered compared to other showings.

My note taking stopped here!